Philip Hoare (born Patrick Kevin Philip Moore, 1958) is an English writer, especially of history and biography. He instigated the Moby Dick Big Read project. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the
University of Southampton
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
and
Leverhulme
The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...
artist-in-residence at the
Marine Institute,
Plymouth University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2011.
Name
He was born Patrick Moore. He chose the name Philip Hoare to avoid confusion with astronomer
Patrick Moore:
Life
Hoare was born in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
and attended
St Mary's College.
[. He then studied at ]St Mary's University, Twickenham
, mottoeng = Show Thyself to be a Mother
, established = 1850 (as St Mary's College)2014 (gained university status)
, type = Public university
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic
, endowment ...
.[
In 1982–83, he ran the record label ]Operation Twilight
Operation Twilight was a British record label, the UK branch of Belgian label Les Disques du Crépuscule. It was run by Patrick Moore, who now writes as Philip Hoare.
Moore was working for Rough Trade Records at the time, and described the ge ...
, a UK-based subsidiary of the Belgian Les Disques du Crépuscule
Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label founded in Belgium. The label was founded in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré. It also had a prominent associated sublabel, Factory Benelux. Both are now run by former employee Ja ...
,[ which launched the career of ]the Pale Fountains
The Pale Fountains were an English band formed in Liverpool in 1980, and composed of Mick Head (vocalist/guitarist), Chris McCaffery (bassist), Thomas Whelan (drummer), trumpet player Andy Diagram (horns) and Ken Moss (Guitar/Bass). Diagram w ...
. In 2009 he exhibited artworks made with Angela Cockayne at Viktor Wynd
Viktor Wynd is an artist, author, lecturer, impresario and committee member of The London Institute of 'Pataphysics.
Artwork
As an artist, Wynd created The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History in London's East End, a st ...
Fine Art Inc in London
Works
Hoare is the author of eleven works of non-fiction:
* ''Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant'' (1990).
* '' Noël Coward: A Biography'' (1995)
* ''Wilde
Wilde is a surname. Notable people with the name include:
In arts and entertainment In film, television, and theatre
* '' Wilde'' a 1997 biographical film about Oscar Wilde
* Andrew Wilde (actor), English actor
* Barbie Wilde (born 1960), Canad ...
's Last Stand: Decadence, Conspiracy, and the First World War'' (1997)
* ''Spike Island: The Memory of a Military Hospital'' (2000), the story of Netley Hospital
The Royal Victoria Hospital or Netley Hospital was a large military hospital in Netley, near Southampton, Hampshire, England. Construction started in 1856 at the suggestion of Queen Victoria but its design caused some controversy, chiefly from F ...
in Southampton
* ''The Ghosts of Netley'' (2004)
* ''England's Lost Eden: Adventures in a Victorian Utopia'' (2005), about Mary Anne Girling and the New Forest Shakers
* ''Leviathan or, The Whale'' (2008), which won the 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction
* ''The Whale: In Search Of The Giants Of The Sea'' (2010)
* ''The Sea Inside'' (2013)
* ''RisingTideFallingStar'' (2017)
* ''Albert and the Whale: Albrecht Dürer and How Art Imagines Our World'' (2021)
He has also edited ''The Sayings of Noël Coward'' (1997).
Hoare has co-authored or contributed to the following publications:
* Essay on the evolution of class in the UK in a British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
pamphlet, ''Posh: The Evolution of the Traditional British Brand'' (ed. Sorrel Hershberg, 1999).
* An essay in ''Linder: Works 1976–2006'' (2006), a collection about Linder Sterling.
* Gabriel Orozco
Gabriel Orozco (born April 27, 1962) is a Mexican artist. He gained his reputation in the early 1990s with his exploration of drawing, photography, sculpture and installation. In 1998, Francesco Bonami called Orozco "one of the most influentia ...
(2006), exhibition catalogue and texts, with Mark Godfrey.
* Pet Shop Boys (2006), catalogue and texts, with Chris Heath.
* Introduction to ''David Austen'' (2007) (eds. Emma Dean and Michael Stanley).
* Foreword to ''Made in Southampton'' (2008), a box-set of prints.
* ''Provenance'' (2010), with Angela Cockayne, a response to Wunderkammen.
* Essay, "Something against nothing", in ''Tania Kovats'' (2011) (ed. Jeremy Millar).
* ''Dominion: A Whale Symposium'' (2012) (eds. Hoare and Angela Cockayne).
* Essay in ''Malicious Damage: the Defaced Library Books of Kenneth Halliwell
Kenneth Leith Halliwell (23 June 1926 – 9 August 1967) was a British actor, writer and collagist. He was the mentor, boyfriend and murderer of playwright Joe Orton.
Childhood
Halliwell was born in Bebington. He was very close to his mothe ...
and Joe Orton'' (2013), (ed. Ilsa Colsell).
* Essay in ''Southampton: A City Lost ... And Found'' (2013), a collection of drawings by Eric Meadus.
* Record of a discussion between Hoare, Christopher Frayling and Mark Kermode on David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
's cultural impact, in ''David Bowie is the subject'' (2013) (eds. Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh).
* ''Greetings from Darktown : an illustrator's miscellany'', a collection of the work of Jonny Hannah, with texts by Hoare, Sheena Calvert and Peter Chrisp (2014).
* Foreword to ''As is the sea'' (2014), writing by students from the Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...
(ed. Jessie Bond).
* ''Another Green World – Linn Botanic Gardens: Encounters with a Scottish Arcadia'' (2015), photographs by Alison Turnbull
Alison Turnbull (born 16 March 1956, Bogotá) is a Colombian-born British painter and sculptor.
Early in her career, Turnbull worked as an invigilator at the Serpentine Gallery.
Exhibitions Solo exhibitions
* 2001 "Houses into Flats," M ...
, text by Hoare.
Other projects
He has been interested in cetaceans since early childhood. He wrote and presented the BBC Arena film ''The Hunt for Moby-Dick'', and directed three films for BBC's ''Whale Night''.
Between 2011 and 2012, his self-professed 'whale obsession' led him to create the ''Moby Dick Big Read''. The project, curated by Hoare and artist Angela Cockayne, involved the construction of an online audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
of all 135 chapters of Herman Melville
Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...
's classic ''Moby Dick
''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...
; or, the Whale''. The readings were delivered by a multitude of celebrities, including Tilda Swinton
Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition t ...
, Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
, Sir David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
, John Waters
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...
, Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...
and David Cameron, and accompanied by images from contemporary artists such as Anish Kapoor
Sir Anish Mikhail Kapoor (born 12 March 1954) is a British-Indian sculptor specializing in installation art and conceptual art. Born in Mumbai, Kapoor attended the elite all-boys Indian boarding school The Doon School, before moving to the UK t ...
, Antony Gormley, George Shaw and Susan Hiller
Susan Hiller (March 7, 1940 – January 28, 2019) was an American-born artist who lived in London, United Kingdom. Her art practice included installation, video, photography, performance and writing.
Early life and education
Born in Tallah ...
. The readings were uploaded to the ''Moby Dick Big Read'' website, with one chapter available for download per day from 16 September 2012. All downloads are free but donations are invited to 'Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), formerly Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society in the UK, is a wildlife charity that is dedicated solely to the worldwide conservation and welfare of all whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans). It has ...
' (WDCS).
References
External links
2008 profile
Moby Dick Big Read
The Whale blogsite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoare, Philip
1958 births
English male non-fiction writers
English non-fiction writers
People educated at St Mary's College, Southampton
Writers from Southampton
Living people
Date of birth missing (living people)
Academics of the University of Southampton
Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham